I realize that some of my readers may be quite familiar with who I am as a person. I'm pretty intentional about sharing my personal life here on my blog. But I've put together a list of things that even my closest friends might not know about me. So here goes. A look at 25 random things that you might not know about me. Enjoy!
1. I hate, absolutely hate, walking around without socks on. I can't wear shoes without socks. I can't wear flip flops without socks (yeah, I'm that dude who wears flip flops and socks). This is probably why my feet are so pale.
2. I was a certified Jr. Lifeguard in middle school. I never saved anyone's life, but it was cool to sit on the lifeguard throne and look down on my subjects. And, no, I didn't wear socks at the pool. Lone exception.
3. For some reason, I always wanted to run for governor of the state of Georgia. It started when I went to Atlanta in middle school to be a page in the state legislature. It was an early dream of mine to be Georgia's governor.
4. I eat my food in combinations. Once the combinations run out, I'm done. For example, grits, eggs, and sausage go on the fork (in that order). If I run out of either too early, it's a wrap. Therefore, I ration my food accordingly.
5. I hate dogs, cats, birds, squirrels, marsupials, horses, and any other animal you can think of. My kids will not own any of these. Because after the new feel rubs off, daddy will end up walking, cleaning up after, and taking care of said animal. Ain't happening.
6. I am related to New Edition's Ralph Tresvant. A lot of his family lives in my hometown, Brunswick, Georgia. *singing* Don't need a man who can give you the monaaaayyyyy, you need a man...with...sensitivity*.
7. I am probably one of few people who are half-Jamaican and haven't been to their motherland. I know absolutely nothing about Jamaican food and I can't speak patois. I know. Sad.
8. Speaking of Jamaicans, my father was actually a very talented musician and attended a boy's school with a famous Jamaican musician. My father also appears in a Jamaican crime film about the music industry, The Harder They Come, with Jimmy Cliff. I surely wish I inherited my dad's voice. It was bananas!!!
9. I have fractured one ankle three times and the other one a few times in the course of playing basketball over the years. I also have two broken fingers that I never got repaired because I wanted to keep playing and not end my season prematurely in high school.
10. Speaking of basketball, I used to wear a strap around my glasses in rec ball. Felt like I was Horace Grant or James Worthy.
11. I used to read encyclopedias for fun when I was little. I even read them in the dark, after lights out for bedtime (which led to my poor eyesight).
12. I wish I had a dollar for every time I have been asked in my lifetime if I was mixed or if my eyes were real. I could end the recession.
13. I love to write, but preaching is taxing. Can't sleep the night before, wiped out afterward, but well worth it. Nothing like proclaiming the Gospel. Nothing!
14. 20 years ago I used to play basketball from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Without a break! Now, I play one to two games a...quarter. Two hours tops. *sigh*
15. I hate going to malls. I hate parking at them. I hate the 2000 little kids hanging out there on a Friday night. I can count on one hand the number of times I have gone to a mall last year.
16. I'm a little obsessed with organization and structure. I do not like chaos.
17. I used to bite other little kids at my daycare. The daycare workers called me Jaws.
18. When I was born, the doctor told my mother that I could have "stayed in the oven" a little bit longer. My family could not tell me from the other caucasian babies in the nursery.
19. When I go with a brand, I stick with it. So, I am a loyal video game system customer (until something better comes out...lol). First, it was Nintendo (NES, SNES), then Playstation (PS 1, 2, 3, and 4). Same thing with food brands. And I'm part of the Apple cult now with a Macbook Pro, iPads, iPhones, and Apple TVs hanging around the Richards residence.
20. I was very close to going into the military as an officer. I got a full ride to go to college on an ROTC scholarship. I decided to go another route.
21. I wanted to have at least five boys and have them play on the same varsity basketball team. That dream quickly got punched in the face by reality. Two kids. That's where we're stopping. ;)
22. I can't stand sleeping with a pillow. It's frustrating, so I sleep flat. All my pillows wind up on the floor.
23. Sometimes, when I walk and there are cracks in the sidewalk I try to avoid stepping on them still (yeah, I know...old school). Step on a crack...
24. I was sleepless the night before my first middle school dance. I wore a totally ridiculous rayon shirt, orange pants, got a fresh high top fade, took a canned good to pay the discounted rate, and was too nervous to ask the girl I really liked to dance. *smh*
25. I spent my allowance every week in middle school at Blockbuster and McDonald's. Game for the Nintendo/SNES and a #1 with no pickles. Today, I can't stand Big Macs (although my allowance is a little more) :).
See, you learn something new about someone every day. Just so happens that today you might have just learned 25 new things about me.
Question: How many of those things did you already know about me? Anything surprising?